Tag: Osi Umenyiora (Page 3 of 5)

NFL Week 14 MVP power rankings

Now, I feel like I knew what I was talking about by moving Tom Brady up to #1. The man is simply a man possessed this year to win a title. I mean, it’s been, what? Five years since his Pats did win. Yep. Those guys are in a zone. Here are the weekly power rankings…..

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—In a blizzard, Brady completed 27 of 40 passes (67.5%) for 369 yards, 2 TDs and zero picks. Against the Bears’ defense. Someone needs to check to see if Brady actually IS human.

2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—He’s only played 10 full games, but his overall numbers are sick—averaging 251 yards per game passing, and another 48 yards per game rushing, with 17 passing TDs and 7 more rushing, with only 4 interceptions.

3. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—The fact that the Chiefs didn’t have Cassel available last Sunday and got blown out in San Diego is the pure definition of MVP.

4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—At what point do we start paying attention to Brees and his Saints?

5. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Here come the Chargers. Sorry, Todd Haley, they are gonna find a way to spoil your postseason aspirations.

6. Matt Ryan/Roddy White/Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons—Sure, they have the best record in the NFC, but Ryan’s numbers aren’t quite backing up MVP vote consideration, so I thought it made sense to group these three together for now.

7. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Leads in rushing yards (1330), rushing scores (13), and is right behind LeSean McCoy in receiving yards for running backs (504) with 2 more TDs. Just sick, and it’s only too bad the Texans can’t play defense.

8. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—He leaves the game, the Packers lose to the Lions. See # 3—Cassel, Matt. Same situation.

9. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles—Leads all DE’s in solo tackles (46) and has 9 sacks, but for some reason he doesn’t get much love.

10. Justin Tuck/Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants—Tuck leads all DE’s with 46 total tackles and has 9 sacks; Osi has 40 tackles and 10 sacks. No wonder these guys have been knocking quarterbacks silly.

NFL Week 9 MVP power rankings

It’s getting more and more crowded at the top in these power rankings. It seems like each week, someone new steps up and tried to claim a nomination or spot on this list. That’s life in the 2010 NFL season. Here are the MVP rankings for this week….and since there was a game Thursday, we have to take it into account:

1. Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—On pace for 125 catches, 1660 yards and 12 TDs

2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Who is he even throwing to? Yet still on pace for almost 5000 yards

3. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—11 sacks at mid-point with a shot to break Michael Strahan’s single-season record

4. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons—The Falcons are the first 7-win team (thanks to a Thursday nighter) and Ryan helped lead them to victory against Baltimore

5. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Exactly where did this dude come from? He’s carried the ball 157 times and is averaging 5.5 yards per attempt.

6. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—He has even less warm bodies than Manning to throw to, yet keeps putting numbers up.

7. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—With all due respect to Kevin Kolb, the Eagles are a playoff team with Vick, spectators without him.

8. Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants—The sacks leader on a D-line that leads the league in knocking out quarterbacks

9. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants—Leads all wide receivers in TDs

10. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—It’s not so much the numbers, it’s the way this dude leads his team week after week—and they are looking pretty good.

NFL Week 6 MVP, COY and ROY Power Rankings

Every week we have different candidates here, because the 2010 NFL season has been wacky. And that’s okay, as it makes ranking MVP, Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year candidates more fun. Anyway, here we go….

MVP Power Rankings

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Okay, so Philip Rivers and Kyle Orton have more yards per game, but they play for 2-4 teams. Manning’s Colts are 4-2, and check out these numbers through six games—1916 yards, 67.3 completion percentage, 319.3 yards per game, 13 touchdowns (leads NFL) and just 2 interceptions, for a QB rating of 103.4. As usual, Manning sort of defines what the term MVP is all about.

2. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—I heard someone on NFL Network the other day call Matthews the “best defensive player in the NFL.” Not bad for a linebacker in his second year, who was selected after 25 other players in the 2009 draft. Anyway, Matthews has 9 sacks to lead the NFL, and 21 tackles through five games…and the Packers sorely missed him last Sunday in a loss to Miami when Matthews sat out with a hamstring injury.

3. Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers—We’re leaving Antonio on here this week because he left the game against the Rams last Sunday with an ankle injury, leaving Philip Rivers without his favorite target. And then the Chargers lost the game. To the Rams. Gates only had 2 catches for 12 yards in that one, but on the season he still has 31 receptions for 490 yards and 7 TDs (which leads all tight ends and receivers).

Honorable mention: Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles (thanks to Kevin Kolb’s performance last Sunday, Vick got bumped off the list); LaDainian Tomlinson, New York Jets; Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos; Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos; Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers; Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants; Arian Foster, Houston Texans

Coach of the Year Power Rankings

1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers—If you start the season without your star quarterback for four games, and have the likes of Charlie Batch, Dennis Dixon, and Byron Leftwich at the helm, coming out of that 2-2 would be a huge moral victory. Well, Tomlin came out of that stretch 3-1 and it could have been 4-0 if not for that last-gasp drive by Joe Flacco and the Ravens a few weeks ago. Of course, the D led by a healthy Troy Polamalu and hard-hitting-to-a-fault James Harrison, has helped, but let’s give Tomlin some huge and well-deserved props here.

2. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Has anyone noticed that the Rams are 3-3, having already equaled their win total from 2008 and 2009 combined. And they’re giving up less than 19 points per game after allowing 27 per game last year—something that has much to do with the Rams’ defensive whiz of a coach.

3. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—How do you go from the scorching hot hot seat to a coach of the year nomination? Ask Tom Coughlin, who the New York media had being replaced by Bill Cowher a few weeks ago when they lost badly to the Colts, and then beat themselves badly in a loss the Titans at home. The Giants rallied around Coughlin and squashed the previously unbeaten Bears, then crushed the upstart Texans in Houston 34-10, before not allowing the dreaded trap game against Detroit ruin his team’s winning streak. So from 1-2 to 4-2, and tied with the Eagles for the division lead. That’s why Tom Coughlin is on here.

Honorable mention: Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks; Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs; Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs; Rex Ryan, New York Jets; Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles

Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Suh leads all NFL defensive tackles with 5 sacks, and he also has 21 tackles through six games, plus an interception—a pretty rare feat for a DT. Is there any doubt that this young big man is the real deal?

2. Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions—Injury may have slowed Best down, but how about the fact that to go along with 249 rushing yards, Best has 31 catches for a league-high 285 receiving yards among running backs. That’s 534 all-purpose yards through six games.

3. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—He’s way down the list of quarterbacks stat-wise, but Bradford is averaging 226 yards per game and has 7 TD passes. We’ll let the 8 picks slide for now, because let’s face it—the kid is helping to lead the Rams to respectability.

Honorable mention: Max Hall, Arizona Cardinals; Rolando McClain, Oakland Raiders; Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys; Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals

Osi Umenyiora trade rumors heating up

The National Football Post reported over the weekend that the Giants are open to trading Osi Umenyiora during this week’s draft if they select South Florida’s Jason Pierre-Paul.

Umenyiora, who struggled while trying to rebound from a torn ACL injury suffered during the 2007 season, was upset with the way former defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan (who only lasted one year in the Big Apple) used him last year. While he was open to staying with the Giants, the relationship between him and the team has been strenuous since the end of last season.

There’s a good chance Pierre-Paul will be available when the Giants pick at No. 15. He’s a raw prospect, but he seems to have a higher ceiling than Georgia Tech’s Derrick Morgan, who is regarded as the top defensive end in this year’s draft. While it the situation makes sense on the surface, New York has a more pressing need to fill at middle linebacker and thus, even if Pierre-Paul is available at 15 it doesn’t mean that they’ll take him. And obviously if they don’t take a DE in the first round, then Umenyiora is unlikely to be traded.

This story will likely pick up steam heading into the draft, but is one that could fizzle very quickly.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Umenyiora suggests he’d rather quit than be a backup

In an interview Wednesday on sports radio WFAN, Giants’ defensive end Osi Umenyiora said that this is the worst offseason of his life and indicated that he’d rather stop playing football altogether than be a backup player.

From the New York Daily News:

“I’m not going to be a back up player, I can promise you that,” Umenyiora said. “I’ll stop playing football before I do that ever again. This has been just the worst offseason of my entire life. I can’t even think of a time when things were this bad during the offseason. You’re supposed to be relaxing, but I can’t relax because all I can think of is the things that took place last season, you understand? So for me it’s not something that I’m going to do. If I’m asked to come back there and do that then I’ll just stop playing football.”

Umenyiora, of course, is coming off a tremendously rocky season which began with a one-day walkout after a dispute with former defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan, and continued as he struggled to regain his form after missing all of 2008 following knee surgery. His play slipped so far, especially against the run, that he was replaced in the starting lineup by Mathias Kiwanuka for the final weeks of the season.

He was so frustrated, in fact, that he thought his time with the Giants was just about over.

“Did it go through my mind? Obviously, yes,” he said. “Obviously you come through a situation where you’ve been here for a long time and you’ve won Super Bowls, you’ve been to the Pro Bowl a couple of times, then things like that start happening, you start being benched and they say you’re coming in on the third down rush, I think it almost seemed like the writing was on the wall at that particular time. I felt like I had worn out my welcome, because for certain people, no matter what happens, they’ll never take them out of the lineup, you understand what I mean?

Umenyiora also said in the interview that he hopes that things will get resolved and he can stay with the Giants, who hired Perry Fewell to be their new defensive coordinator.

These types of situations seem to work themselves out in the end, but Fewell and the Giants are going to have to do some damage control if they still feel that Umenyiora is a full-time player. If they don’t, then this would be the perfect time to trade him and get some kind of compensation for him. After all, it doesn’t make sense to pay a part-time player over $4 million, which is what Umenyiora would make in 2010.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

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